Healthy eating – what?

Healthy eating – what?

Clear answer: gains in life years and quality of life! Although “healthy” in the food industry is a Trend. A healthy diet – a healthy lifestyle in General – but many people are too time-consuming. To do this, you can say clear: all sick time to be consuming and also painful and expensive; it lowers the quality of life and shortens life! Nutrition plays in two of the three deaths, the German society for nutrition in your nutrition report 2004. In Germany, cardiovascular years diseases and malignant tumors by far the most common causes of death. By a change of diet in the Occurrence and development of these diseases can be positively influenced.

Overweight

A calculation for the European Union has shown that at least one of 13 death cases with Overweight or obesity (morbid obesity) in connection can be brought. Converted to the total number of deaths in the year 2004, this would be cases in Germany alone 62.943 death. The increased mortality reflected in a shorter life expectancy: According to data from the Framingham Heart Study overweight women to die without a pre-existing medical conditions after the age of 40. Age of 3.1 years of life earlier than normal-weight women. In men it is 2.6 years. Women with obesity live on average even 7.0 years shorter, obese men was 6.9 years.

The “Deadly Quartet”

Also in Diabetes mellitus type 2, caused primarily by incorrect diet, many years of life because of the variety of complications and serious sequelae is lost. A study from Canada found that the life expectancy of diabetics is 12 years lower than people without this metabolic disorder. Obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and blood fat are closely linked and are referred to in the community Occur as the Metabolic syndrome or the “deadly Quartet”. This results in the following causes of death are heart attack and stroke. Especially the high blood pressure (hypertension) as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases is of great importance.

The world health organization (WHO) estimates that in developed countries approximately 20 per cent of the deaths are due to high blood pressure values. To high cholesterol levels in the diet mitbedingten risk factors second. Here, too, both of these factors are directly related with an unhealthy diet: too many calories, too many fats, too much salt.

Osteoporosis

A totally under-appreciated cause of death in Germany osteoporosis. This, the most common bone disease appears almost never on a death certificate. Experts estimate, however, that it is the cause for 80 to 90 percent of all femoral neck and vertebral body fractures in women over 65 years of age. And close to the hip joint bone fractures in the first six months, a mortality risk of approximately 20 to 25 percent.

Here, too, about the diet can be – especially at a young age – much achieved: A food that is rich in calcium, potassium, Vitamin D and Vitamin C, counteracts the formation of osteoporosis.

Clear balance-sheet of these Figures

It is worthwhile to invest time in a healthy diet – in a healthy life style at all! Because who wants to die earlier, or several years more sick? Heike Brinkmann-Reitz, a nutrition expert at the German Green cross (DGK), and therefore recommends: “you are best to Start with small changes, for example, for a crisp salad instead of the Sausage and take the stairs instead of the Elevator!” Source: Kroke, A., Walz, A.: mortality from diet mitbedingten chronic diseases. In: DGE (EDS.): The nutrition report 2004. Bonn 2004, P. 94-115